Greece achieved its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1829 - although curiously it has celebrated Independence Day on March 25 since 1821;

A military dictatorship took over in 1967 and lasted until 1974 when a referendum created a parliamentary republic and abolished the monarchy;

Deposed Greek king Constantine II and Queen Anne-Marie live in exile in London. The exiled monarch is a close friend of Prince Charles and is a godfather to Prince William;

It has a total land mass of 131,940sq km - or "slightly smaller than Alabama", according to the CIA;

Greece has borders with four countries - Albania, Bulgaria, Turkey and former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia;

It is a peninsular country possessing an archipelago of about 2,000 islands;

Greece's highest point is Mount Olympus, which stands at 2,917m. It is the traditional home of the Greek gods. Mount Olympus is more than 150 miles away from Olympia, the village where the Olympic Games originated in 776BC;

Greece's population stands at about 10,647,529 - more than three times that of Wales;

Life expectancy for the average Greek person is 78.94 years;

According to the National Heart Forum, Greek people consume about twice as much fruit and vegetables as people in the UK;

Greece, formerly known as the Kingdom of Greece, is known by many names: Ellas or Ellada (Greece) as well as Elliniki Dhimokratia (Hellenic Republic);

The chief of state is President Konstandinos (Kostis) Stephanopoulos and Prime Minister is Konstandinos Karamanlis;

A massive 98% of the population belongs to the Greek Orthodox religion;

Greeks have almost twice as many mobile phones as landlines;

Greece has been involved in complex border disputes with Turkey, especially in relation to the island of Cyprus;

It is also in dispute with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia;

Greece is prone to severe earthquakes;

According to the CIA website, Greece is a gateway to Europe for cannabis and heroin smugglers;

Famous Greek-Americans include Billy Zane (who was born William Zanetakos) and Kojak's Telly Savalas. "Telly" was actually born Aristotle Savalas and was godfather to Friends star Jennifer Aniston, who is also of Greek-American descent;

Greece has always been a magnet for shipping magnates, including John Latsis and Aristotle Onassis, who married President John F Kennedy's widow Jackie. No fridge magnates though;

Greece has given the world five popes - Evaristus (c98-105), Stephen I (254-257), Agotho (678-681), John VI (701-705), and John VII (705-709);

The first marathon of the inaugural modern Olympics of 1896 was won by a Greek man - water carrier Spiridon "Spiro" Louis - who, according to sporting legend, stopped for a glass of wine en route;

Another famous singer with Greek roots is Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou - better-known as George Michael (or "yog" to his family);

The most famous Greek painter was - as his name might hint - El Greco;

Greece joined Nato in 1952 and the EU in 1981;

The currency since 2002 has been the euro;

On January 8 every year the festival of Gynaikratia takes place in villages throughout northern Greece. It is a day of role reversal when women spend the day in the kafeneia (caf s) and other social centres where the men usually congregate, while the men stay at home to do housework;

Greece is home to more than eight million sheep, five million goats and one million beehives;

The word Greek can have the connotation of foreigner or foreign as in the expression "It's all Greek to me". It is also believed to be the origin of the word "gringo" - the disparaging Spanish term for a non-Hispanic person. The word gringo comes from the Spanish word griego which means Greek;

Taramasalata is one of three words that has the largest number of "a"s in it in the English language;

Health risks to travellers include sunburn, typhus (found in rural areas from April to September), Lyme disease and rabies;

The main geographic divisions of Greece are (1) the northern region which includes Epirus, Macedonia and Thrace; (2) Central Greece and Thessaly; (3) the Peloponnese which is separated from the mainland by the Corinth Canal; and (4) the islands of the Aegean Sea to the east of the mainland, the Ionian islands to the west, and Crete, the largest Greek island, to the south.

This relatively small country has given the world:

Democracy

Homer's Iliad - the "first great work of European literature"

The encyclopedia

Travel writing (Pausanias)

The philosophy of Aristotle

...and Plato

...and Socrates

Euclidean geometry

...and, of course, The Olympic Games

And not forgetting the great literary works of:

Aesop

Aristophanes

Aeschylus

Euripides

Hesiod

Herodotus

Pindar

Plutarch

Sappho

Sophocles

Thucydides

and Xenophon

... all at a time when Ancient Britons were gibbering nakedly around Stonehenge. Probably.

That gives you 48 facts. Add this, in a Carol Vorderman Countdown-type feat of juggling, to 1896 - the year in which the Olympic Games were revived (the ancient games had died out in 393AD) in Athens, by Frenchman Baron de Coubertin - to give you 1944 and add on the ... err ... 60 Eurofighters that Greece is said to be buying and, hey presto, you have 2004!!